Drowsy But Awake by Andrea Galambos

So, we have all heard of that magic moment in which you put your baby down “drowsy but awake” and then they peacefully drift off to sleep. But does anyone know what “drowsy but awake” actually means?

Drowsy but awake means putting your baby down when they are feeling tired, but not too tired.

Too vague?

Imagine when you fall asleep. Think of how your body feels. Your energy starts to wane, You begin to imagine how nice it would feel to lie in your bed, rest your head on your pillow, snuggle under your cozy blankets, close your eyes, and drift off. This happens when you feel the right amount of sleep pressure.

As we go about our day, our brain cells release a chemical called adenosine. This builds up in our systems (especially in the evening) and causes up to feel sleepy. This is what I refer to as “sleep pressure”.

When babies feel an adequate amount of sleep pressure, they are able to fall asleep pretty easily (usually within 5 and 20 minutes). If they are put down too early (ie. not tired enough), they will likely stare at the ceiling for a while, play in their crib, and avoid sleep at all because they just rediscovered how much fun their sheets and crib rails can be. When babies are put to bed too late (ie. overtired), they experience a cortisol rush. This is like a burst of second wind energy that prevents them from falling asleep until their body has built up more sleep pressure (so bedtime or naptime is not likely to happen right away). With cortisol in their system, they often appear bright eyed and ready to play.

So how do you know exactly when your baby is in the “drowsy but awake” zone? Watch their tired signs.

Examples of early sleep signs:

Seven Mile Stare (ie. blankly staring off into the distance)

Glassy/puffy/red look to the eyes

Examples of mid-range sleep signs:

Becomes “shrieky”

Clumsy

Clingy

Asks to breastfeed

nuzzles into the caregiver

Loses attention span with toys

Showing signs of fussiness

Exhibiting attention seeking behaviours (and usually not the positive kind)

Late Sleep Signs

Yawning

Ear pulling
Eye rubbing

Overtired (CORSITOL RUSH)

Arching their body backwards

Temper tantrums

Crying

Hyper/burst of energy

From the early signs to the late signs (ie. long stare to eye rubbing), you have a ten to fifteen-minute window before your baby will experience a cortisol rush. You can determine the length of your baby’s window by logging the times of their early and late tired signs for a few days. Some babies have 15-minute windows, and some have shorter windows (even as short as 5-7 minutes). Some babies are tricky and only show late signs. Logging will give you some answers on how to catch your child’s window.

Drowsy but awake does not mean helping your baby 99% of the way to sleeping, but then moving them to their sleep space. This would be considered putting them down drowsy. If you have a baby who resists sleep with every fibre of their being, they may protest being put down drowsy but awake. You can work on gradually putting them down less and less drowsy so they start to learn how to transition from feeling sleepy to falling asleep on their own. Even practicing this once per day can lead to some solid sleep skills by the time they are older than 4 months of age.

And if you are reading this and thinking “That’s crazy talk – there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell my baby would do this without going into hysterics!”, that’s ok. Not all babies will go to sleep drowsy but awake at a young age. You can try the above-mentioned tip of gradually helping them less and less as they drift off, or you can go with whatever works until they reach an age where they are less likely to melt down and more likely to try to regulate and fall asleep on their own (this is usually between six and eight months of age).

Andrea Galambosis a Certified Gentle Sleep Coach, and founder of Blissful Nights. As a former exhausted parent and mom to three busy little kids, Andrea fully understands the toll extreme sleep deprivation can take. As a Gentle Sleep Coach, Andrea works with tired parents of infants and small children, helping them gently and lovingly teach their children invaluable sleep skills. As the children learn to sleep, parents are reunited with their own long-lost and desperately missed uninterrupted sleep.

About Author

As far back as I can remember, I have always wanted to support people through a number of diverse events in their lives. While I continue to support adults with disabilities and mental health, I have had the privilege and honour of being a birth and post partum Doula for the past 8 years.

I believe that a women’s birth experience is unique and my goal is to equip the childbearing family with tools to create a positive birth. Those first few days home with your baby can be a challenge, my passion is to come into the home with my experience as a mom, lactation educator and a post partum doula to assist your family in creating a routine that works for you.

As a child passenger safety technician, I can help ease your concerns by booking a private home installation. I am also very passionate about self acceptance and body image which is why I have embarked on a journey to help families feel their very best through nutrition and exercise.

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